Breaking: FCA Secures the Services of Andrew Bailey as its Next CEO

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the country’s paramount regulator and bellwether standard for the financial services industry, has finally honed in on a permanent Chief Executive Officer (FCA), naming Andrew Bailey to the role, according to an FCA statement.

Back in July, . Despite stepping down, Mr. Wheatley has continued acting as a de facto adviser to the FCA Board and will do so until January 31, 2016.

Since then however, the FCA appointed Tracey McDermott as its interim Chief Executive, whose term took effect on September 12, 2015. However, the UK regulator settled in on , having previously served as its Director for Enforcement and Market Oversight – this ultimately proved to be yet another stopgap as the role was left vacant, leading to the permanent appointment of Mr. Bailey today.

Mr. Bailey steps into the CEO role with an impressive list of credentials – he currently is the acting Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation at the Bank of England and CEO of the Prudential Regulation Authority. Despite the announcement today however, Mr. Bailey will step into the position in what is likely to be July 2016.

According to John Griffith-Jones, Chairman of the FCA in a recent statement on the appointment: “I am delighted that Andrew has been appointed as the new Chief Executive. He brings unrivalled regulatory experience, a proven track record and an excellent reputation in the UK and internationally. Having been an FCA Board member since 2013 he has been fully engaged with all the regulatory issues that we have faced in recent years and in setting our strategy for the future.”

“I look forward to working with Andrew. He has done a great job at the PRA and he will build on the work the FCA has done over the last three years as a strong, independent regulator,” he added.

In addition to the FCA appointment, HM Treasury has also announced a series of new appointments, with four new non-executive FCA board members being named. These include the following individuals, all of whom will see their appointments tendered with effect on April 1, 2016:

• Bradley Fried
• Baroness (Sarah) Hogg
• Ruth Kelly
• Tom Wright